Two teens shot following Saturday brawl

TROY -- Downtown streets echoed with the sounds of teens brawling and gunshots that left two 19-year-olds with non-fatal gunshot wounds Saturday night.

The fracas began following a Sweet 16 party at the Troy Boys & Girls Club, which had about 30 teens and 30 parents present, according to officials at the facility. Shortly after the party let out at 11 p.m., city police began receiving calls from concerned residents reporting brawling in the streets, according to Police Capt. John Cooney.

Officers were on the scene shortly thereafter, and found anywhere between 150 and 200 teens on the streets, with activity between a group representing Albany and another representing Troy.

"As the crowds spilled out onto the downtown streets we immediately began getting calls regarding minor skirmishes, a couple fights and a lot of yelling back and forth between groups," said Cooney. "We herded the crowd through the downtown and kept them moving as well as we could."

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By shortly after midnight, with the crowd largely broken up throughout downtown, police received a call for shots fired, later found to have been fired at the intersection of Rensselaer Street and Fifth Avenue, more than 12 blocks from the Boys & Girls Club. The incident was related to the groups milling around downtown, indicated the captain.

Shane Ray, 19, of Watervliet was shot in the left forearm. By the time officers arrived on the scene, he was being transported to St. Mary's Hospital by private vehicle. He was treated and released. A second victim, Sazieon Jones, 19, of Second Street, was brought to Samaritan Hospital with a gunshot wound to the neck. His condition is unknown, but the injury was non-life threatening.

Officers were able to piece information together to determine that the shootings took place at Rensselaer Street and Fifth Avenue, although both victims, as well as witnesses, were very uncooperative. No arrests have been made and the incident is still under investigation.

The disorderly group appears to have swelled sometime after the Sweet 16 party let out, said Patrick Doyle, acting executive director of the Troy Boys & Girls Club.

"It was just a family party," said Doyle. "I saw a picture of the club on the news [Sunday] night and [the fracas that ensued] was news to us, too."

Police have experienced similar riotous activity following parties. In late March, city police escorted about 150 bellicose and quarrelsome teenagers through Lansingburgh following a Sweet 16 party at Germania Hall.

Police do not believe the Saturday night incident is retaliation for a gang-related shooting at the Cumberland Farms on Campbell Avenue last week; rather, it was precipitated by the influx of large groups into downtown following the party.